MLS

MLS Footnotes: Atlanta's blueprint for making 'success inevitable'

Published Mar. 10, 2023 12:23 p.m. ET

Editor's Note: MLS Footnotes takes you inside the major talking points around the league and across American soccer.

Despite working for the only Major League Soccer club that allows fans to vote out its general manager, Garth Lagerwey probably had the most secure front office job in MLS.

The architect of a Seattle squad reached four MLS Cup finals between 2016 and 2019, winning two and became the first MLS club in over two decades to beat a Mexican club to the CONCACAF title last spring, Lagerwey – the league's most successful executive – wasn't in danger of being ousted in the Sounders' next quadrennial election.

Yet when Atlanta United came calling last year, the 50-year-old couldn't resist. Asked to return a team that had taken MLS by storm when it entered the league in 2017 to a championship track, Lagerwey packed up his young family and moved across the continent to become Atlanta's new president and CEO.

"In MLS, you don't want Seattle to be your biggest market because that means you're missing out on bigger cities," Lagerwey told FOX Sports ahead of Saturday's match between the Five Stripes and southeast rival Charlotte (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

"Atlanta is bigger than Seattle. Bigger fan base, bigger corporate base for sponsors, bigger potential. I want to lead MLS and drive this league forward. There's more potential to do that in Atlanta than Seattle — and that's not a knock in any way on Seattle."

Still, in a salary cap league designed to ensure parity, sustaining success isn't easy for any club. Deep pockets only go so far. Atlanta supporters know that now. After winning the MLS Cup just a year after their ballyhooed expansion campaign, United fell back to earth, burning through two high-profile foreign and coaches missing the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. They haven't hosted or won a postseason match since 2019.

Atlanta is unbeaten to start this year, though. Now in his second full season on the sidelines, Gonzalo Pineda's team erased a deficit in each of its first two games, a dramatic opening day win over San Jose in front of almost 68,000 fans and a 1-1 tie with Toronto in Week 2.

They have a more balanced roster in 2023, with winter acquisitions Derick Etienne and Giorgos Giakoumakis specifically targeted to complement star Argentinean playmaker Thiago Almada, who in December became the first active MLS player to win the World Cup.

They're also more cohesive off the field. Unlike in Seattle and at Real Salt Lake before that, Lagerwey also runs the business side of things for United. That opportunity sealed the deal.

"I'd done the same job for 15 years and didn't have influence over the company strategy," he said. "That was clearly an area where I thought you could build a better club if you had unity across business and soccer."

Atlanta owed much its initial success to South American recruits like Miguel Almirón and proven MLS vets such as Michael Parkhurst, but hard time replacing them when they left. The club drafted U.S. national team center back Miles Robinson and produced homegrown players in George Bello and Caleb Wiley, but Lagerwey quickly identified player development as an area where the organization can improve.

"I want the next Kyle Pitts to play soccer," Lagerwey said of the Atlanta Falcons' star tight end. "You have this enormous, athletic talent pool in Atlanta and I think we can tap into that," he said.

The tools to do so are already there.

"Analytics, scouting, performance – a lot of the pieces are in place," Lagerwey added. "It's about aligning them, getting them all going in the same direction. If we make the right investments, we should be successful over time.

"I want to make our success inevitable."

If Lagerwey's track record is any guide, they will be.

MLS FOOTNOTES

1. Leagues Cup slate drops

While Atlanta has the humble goal of hosting a playoff game this fall, Lagerwey's overall ambitions for the club are far loftier. He wants to win the CONCACAF Champions League in time to host the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which could be held in the North America that summer. And he is still hoping there's a chance that the World Cup final could be staged in Georgia's capital the following year.

"We have the best soccer stadium in the world, arguably," he said of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. "We want to host any game that FIFA will give us."

The first chance to qualify for the 2024 Champions League comes this summer during the Leagues Cup. On Thursday MLS and Liga MX dropped the schedule for the month long, 47-team, World Cup-style competition pitting North America's top two circuits. Lagerwey believes that the tournament's format could intrigue both diehard and mainstream fans.

"Meaningful games against your arch rival — that plays in American sports," he said.

2. Charlotte's hornet's nest

Despite not making the playoffs in its maiden season in 2022, Charlotte outperformed preseason expectations by finishing ahead of Atlanta, New England, Chicago, Toronto and D.C. United in the Eastern Conference.

A sophomore slump seems to have hit so far in Year Two. Charlotte heads into Saturday's contest having lost both of their first two games, including last week at expansion St. Louis.

Returning home could help. Charlotte was superb at Bank of America Stadium last year, compiling a 10-6-1 record. Meantime, the Five Stripes were abysmal on the road, winning just two of their 17 league matches away from The Benz.

3. The chase begins for the CONCACAF title

In the only MLS-Liga MX matchup in the round of 16, Orlando City earned a valuable scoreless draw Tuesday against Tigres in Monterrey, putting them in position for an upset win in the second leg March 15 in Central Florida.

Oscar Pareja is clearly prioritizing the Champions League this season; the Lions coach rested his starters for last week's scoreless draw with Cincinnati in league play, and will probably do the same Saturday night in D.C.

Two other MLS clubs must win next week's second legs at home to advance: the Philadelphia Union and Alianza played to a scoreless draw Tuesday in El Salvador while Austin FC must overturn a 3-0 aggregate deficit to Haiti's Violette in Texas.

4. LAFC coming in hot

Los Angeles FC reveals 2022 MLS Championship banner

The defending champs haven't missed a beat since their Feb. 25 opener against Los Angeles rival LA Galaxy was postponed. LAFC topped Portland 3-2 last week in a match that wasn't as close as the score suggests, then opened their Champions League slate with a resounding 3-0 victory Thursday at Costa Rica's Alajuelense.

Denis Bouanga scored all three goals for the visitors, completing his hat trick in style in the 89th minute:

The rematch is next Wednesday.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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